A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system useful for predicting the success of an individual for a particular job, and in particular, using measured behavioral and values characteristics of the individual as part of the analysis.
B. Problems in the Art
It is difficult to accurately predict or analyze the tendency or potential for success a person may have for a particular job or task. This is especially true if one has no personal experience with the individual. Predictions regarding how well a person will do a job on the basis of simply a resume or personal interview are imprecise. Some studies have indicated that the accuracy of such predictions is no more than in the 10% range, if based simply on personal interviews.
Information regarding prior experience, training, and education of an individual many times is important in evaluating the potential of a person for a particular job. However, it has been found this alone also is not generally conducive to a highly accurate prediction rate for matching an employee with a particular job.
Therefore, attempts have been made to increase the accuracy in such predictions. Some current methods try to achieve greater success by looking at characteristics about the individual other than simply experience and education.
Some attempts have used behavior-type questions or surveys towards this end. Others try to probe what sort of overall values the individual has. In both instances, the investigation deals with either behavior or values, but not both.
While some of these types of analyses have improved the prediction accuracy rate for successful employees for given jobs, they have not yet achieved a high enough validity for general acceptance.
Better predictability (for example, in the 70% or higher range) is desirable. There is therefore room for improvement in the art. The ability to better predict the success of persons for defined job positions can materially affect the bottom line of a company.
The problems with predicting the tendency or potential for how well a person will do a job, or isolating areas for improvement of the person, include the reality that there are many variables that relate to a particular job or task and to whether that job or task will be performed adequately by a person. Therefore, while more objective information such as educational experience, job experience, etc. can give some insight into the capabilities of an individual for a given job, other attributes and characteristics of the individual relating to values motivation, etc. can be extremely important in the job potential of a person.
As stated above, the general behavioral makeup of an individual has been found to be relevant to predicting performance or action. However, behavior itself has many variables. It is therefore difficult to know which areas of behavior should be probed for certain jobs or tasks.
An individual's general values also have been found to provide an indication of how a person will react to various matters. Again, however, it is difficult to know what values and what characteristics of values are important for predicting success in a particular job or task.
Problems also exist with regard to laws and regulations relating to employment. For example, employers can not ask potential employees and current employees questions about certain subject matter. Some of those areas include marital status, religion, and political affiliation. Therefore, accurate job success prediction methods must comply with such laws and regulations with respect to the information they can seek from an individual, and yet still be accurate predictions.
Although others have looked to behavioral traits or values-type characteristics of individuals as ways to predict reaction of persons to certain tasks or jobs, no one has combined an investigation into both behavioral and values characteristics, and used the combined analysis for such predictions.
It is therefore a primary object of the invention to provide a method and system for predicting success of individuals for particular jobs which improves over the state of the art in accuracy.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method as above-described which predicts potential success based on an analysis of information relating to both behavior and values of an individual.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method as above-described which allows comparison between individuals.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method as above-described which allows a current employee to evaluate his/her performance and decide areas where there are room for improvement in performance.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method as above-described which produces more accurate predictions of job success.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method as above described which identifies specific factors required to be successful for a particular job at a particular company.
Another object of the present invention is to provide focus and direction for managing or training an individual.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method as above described which would allow a company to quantify the makeup and performance of its employees as a whole.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method as above described which could validate the type of behavior and values required to be successful for a particular job.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method as above described which allows an employer to identify employees who are masking their natural behavior in their job, who are unmotivated, or who may be considering a career change or employment with another organization.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method as above described which can screen potential job applicants.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method as above described which allows an employer to keep track of the behavioral skills of an employee.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent with reference to the accompanying specification and claims.